


Boku no Lion Heroes

by Sarcastic_Raspberry



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Bakugou Katsuki Swears A Lot, Gen, Outer Space, Voltron au, boku no hero characters in voltron
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-14
Updated: 2018-06-15
Packaged: 2019-05-23 06:26:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14928926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarcastic_Raspberry/pseuds/Sarcastic_Raspberry
Summary: Eyes on the horizon, the new paladins of Voltron pick up their bayards and swallow their fear when faced with the threat of galactic conquest. Working to save their homes, these heroes must not only learn how to take control of their lions, but also themselves if they are to have any hope of saving the universe.((You don't need to have watched Voltron to understand this fanfic, as it is an AU where the characters from Voltron are essentially replaced with characters from BNHA. They will be going on different missions and fighting a different threat to the universe, but in Paladin armor and giant robotic cats. If you don't know what those are either, but still want to check this story out- you can find out as the characters do!))





	1. Chapter 1

An open sky, full of stars.

_... _

A figure draped in a swirl of colors he’s never seen.

_ Capt…. _

Lips moving in words he can’t hear.

_ Captain…. _

Some distant voice, ringing on the edge of his conscious.

_ Captain! _

Why was he hear again? The Figure’s hand stretches towards him and-

“Izuku!”

Ochako’s voice ripped Izuku him from his dream in time to see the distress beacon flickering in front of him.

“Ah, yes!” he said, pressing the appropriate controls to contact those on the ground.

“We’ve made contact with the ground unit,” she said, “they appear to be stranded.”

He turned slightly in his seat to make eye contact with her. While she seemed to have noticed that he was napping mid-flight, Tenya was too occupied with the ship’s mechanics to notice their banter. Of course, no matter how long he’d already been messing with the systems, the ship continued to shake.

“Ah, yes, tell them we’re on our way,” Izuku said, “The important thing is to remain calm, and know that everything is gonna be alright.”

“Okay, but,” Ochako went silent.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing! What should we do first, captain?”

“Ah, right! Let’s begin entry. Are we alright to move in, Tenya?”

“We should be ready!” he said, the spell of mechanics finally broken as he stood from his pit of wires to cross over to his seat. “Though I do wish to express concerns regarding the ground unit’s cumulative weight and the engine's fuel economy. I don’t believe we’ll have enough momentum to break orbit once we land.”

“Well, uh,” Izuku looked down at the screen, imagining the lives of those in distress briefly before setting his eyes forward. “I’m confident in your mechanic abilities. Ochako, can you ask the ground unit if they have spare fuel?”

“That’s an affirmative,” she said, turning to him with a smile, “Good call, Captain!”

“Can you ask for their weight as well?”

“Don’t do that,” Izuku said, voice full of unease as he kept his eyes on his own screen. “Instead, radio our intentions and prepare to land.”

She did as told while the ship cruised forward under Izuku’s shaking hands.

“Trajectory unstable, captain,” Ochako said, “Should we continue with entry plans?”

“Yes,” Izuku said, “It’s now or never.”

“Got it,” she said, eyes quivering as she adjusted her screens slightly.

They continued pushing in until a debri struck the side of the ship, causing the craft to shake harder than it already had been.

“That was our auto and grace breaks!” Tenya said, “We’re going to have to make a manual landing.”

“Ah, got it!” Izuku said. “I’ll find a zone and-”

They shook harder, the screen spiraling in front of izuku.

“I’m ready to tilt the wings to better allow for a gradual landing!” Ochako said. “Tell me when you’re ready for the chute, captain!”

“Ah- okay!”

“Okay to tilt?”

“No! Ah-”

He began running calculations in his mind, racing to figure out the approximate height the ship was currently at and the height they should deploy the shoots for the most accurate shot at a clear landing.

“Tilt them now!” Tenya said.

“The Captain will tell me when!”

“Ochako if you wait any longer-”

They hit the ground, crashing along with the simulation as the walls around them fell apart to reveal Izuku’s dead expression to the swarm of classmates standing outside.

“Congratulations,” Aizawa’s deadpan voice flooded to them, causing Ochako to deflate in her chair. “That mission was probably the most organized mess I’ve seen in a long time.” The broken, forced smile fell from his face as he added, “Get out of the shuttle.”

They did as asked, preparing to file into the swarm of cadets before Aizawa stopped them with only a look.

“Is something wrong, sir?” Tenya asked.

“Class,” Aizawa turned from them and toward the rest of the group, “Can any of you tell me  _ where  _ the group went wrong?”

A few raised their hands, but he ended up pointing out a familiar girl with dark hair- Tsuyu Asui.

If any of them thought for a moment that being her friends would stop her from giving the most accurate run down of what went wrong, they would be wildly incorrect.

“Their problem wasn’t their teamwork,” she began, “It was more like a sequence of personal failures. Izuku was too focused on the specifics when, as the pilot, he should have been looking for any obstacles upon entering orbit. Tenya could have been looking for them, but he was too worried about the ship’s capabilities and limits rather than outside forces that could have and did alter any previous calculations. He wasn’t able to adapt. When he finally did chip in with something meaningful, Ochako wasn’t willing to act unless authorized. That’s usually a good thing, but if a subordinate has to be ordered to act in critical situations when they should know better, the captain might as well be every pilot on board.”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Aizawa said, turning to the line up with a scoff. “Today wasn’t the first time you three have gotten caught up in something and spiraled out of control. Most pilots who die in flight are killed when entering atmosphere, and those guys still know twice as much as you do. You have no instinct- no taste for the field. Normal people can’t learn those things- I expect better from cadets at this academy. Don’t prove me wrong again. Now- step back into line. Next team, you’re up.”

As they walked back this time, Izuku was roughly jostled on the shoulder. He didn’t have to turn around to see who it was.

“Watch it,  _ Cargo Pilot,” _ Katsuki growled, just low enough for him to hear.

He did turn, just in time to see Katsuki lowering himself into the Captain’s chair with more confidence in his posture than Izuku could ever hope to exude in his lifetime.

Instinct. Taste for the field.

Izuku never liked to say teachers were wrong, but as he saw the shuttle close and the crew’s faces and scenarios were projected above, he couldn’t think about how wrong Aizawa really was.

* * *

 

“Way to throw us under the bus, Tsu,” Ochako joked as they all took a seat in the cafeteria.

“If you wanted a complement, you should have tried harder.” Her comment wasn’t a joke, all three realized. “I know you guys can all do better than that. I didn’t even mention Izuku sleeping at the controls. Again.”

“Sometimes your honesty hurts,” he whined slightly, not touching his food in favor of the book in his lap.

“What are you reading up on this time?” Ochako asked, shoving a bite into her mouth.

“The height a ship should deploy breaks for maximum accuracy upon emergency landing.”

“Who cares about some cruddy book?”

The comment came from behind them, causing everyone to turn and see a familiar, smug face.

“Katsuki,” Ochako hissed in both greeting and warning.

“He won’t get anywhere with you babying him, Forehead,” Katsuki said, dropping his smirk. “Bug Eyes has the right idea telling him off.”

“I’m giving criticism so they can get better,” Tsu said, “You’re just being mean.”

“Hey- I really am trying to do them a favor!” he said. “Come on, Four Eyes- what do you think of Cargo Pilot’s potential? Rate it- scale of one to ten.”

“Forehead, Bug Eyes, and Four Eyes? Wow- how original- all facial features and two of which relating to eyes. You must have taken hours to think of those,” Ochako said. “Why don’t you go back to sitting with someone who can put up with you?”

“I don’t know, why don’t you all go back to your actual class,” he laughed. “Face it- you’re not a Fighter Pilot, either. You’re a follower- like a blind sheep.” He slammed a hand on Izuku’s head. “And you’re gonna follow your shepherd anywhere at this rate. Until he leads you right into a wolf den, of course.”

He shoved Izuku forward, stopping when his face was directly above the plate of re-reheated macaroni.

“Oh? What’s this?”

Katsuki pulled him back and picked up his book by a corner to examine it.

“‘Advanced Re-Entry Techniques?’ Ha! Don’t run before you can walk. Here,” he threw the book over his shoulder before scooping up Izuku’s bag.

“Hey- What are you-?”

“Sit down, Forehead!” he growled. “Aha!” he produced another book from Izuku’s bag, “This should be more your speed.”

He lowered the book into view, revealing it to be “Aerospace for Beginners-” an older title Izuku still found himself referring to every now and again.

“Then again,” Katsuki pulled it out of view, “maybe being a  _ Cargo Pilot _ is too good for you,” he threw that book to the floor, too.

“Katsuki!” Tenya stood up, “Allow me to remind you that those books are the property of the academy and as such you are defacing school property with your-”

“Sit down,” he ordered, “I already threw one. What- are you still a little slow on the reflexes? Or did that one matter more? How about defending your precious  _ Captain Midoriya. _ Don’t you think he’s a bit more important than some books?” He dropped the bag entire now leaning forward into Izuku’s view. “I’m beginning to think that I care a bit more than you guys do. I mean, don’t you want him to get better? I’m just doing what I can to help out, ya know? But there’s only  _ so  _ much I can do. It’s not like he can fill the shoes of a real cadet, right?”

“Katsuki!”

Ochako’s yell was the last thing said as Izuku stood abruptly from his chair, causing Katsuki to flinch back immediately. His face hidden by his hair as he stared down, the surrounding cadets could only watch as his fists clenched tightly at his sides. No one breathed, and no one blinked.

Then Katsuki was being shoved out of the way as Izuku fled from the cafeteria.

They all stared after him for a moment before Tenya stooped down to grab Izuku’s bag and books, carefully checking them for damage.

“Asshole,” Ochako grumbled as she took off after him, Tsu in tow.

When Tenya had all of the books sorted into Izuku’s bag, he gave a final look at Katsuki before slinging it over his shoulder.

“What, you got something to say?”

He didn’t, apparently, as he gathered the lunch trays in silence.

This only proved to make Katsuki even angrier as he growled and slinked away.

* * *

 

Lost in time, a single man almost fell in agony.

_ “Pain Level?” _

“I’m fine.”

_ “Inadequate response. Pain Level?” _

“Zero.”

A moment of silence gave the man some hope before he cried out and the computer started again.

_ “Pain Level?” _

“Ah- Seven! Seven!”

_ “Starting tranquilizer administration in-” _

“No! No tranquilizers!” he cried, “Do you have any pain killers?”

_ “Negative, Captain.” _

Of all of the computer’s monotone, emotionless words, that one sounded the most hollow.

“Then I’ll work through it,” he hissed.

_ “Inadequate response.” _

“Augh- I deny treatment!”

_ “Verification.” _

“I deny treatment for the rest of the day.”

_ “Affirmative, Captain. Cancelling scheduled scannings and medications for the next four vargas.” _

“Thank you. Now,” he shifted back into his chair and sighed, “Let’s try to do something productive today.”


	2. Chapter 2

That night, Izuku felt as though everyone in the world could hear him if he so much as shifted the wrong way on the academy roof. The stars above welcomed him as he tried to memorize every shape and pattern they created.

“You know-” the voice startled him into flailing forward, only to turn around and see Ochako also gazing up at the sky, “I’m starting to see why you don’t get enough sleep.”

“Ochako-!” he said, “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see where you sneak off to every night,” she said, settling beside him. “I always thought you were leaving campus or going on a date. Ah- not like I’d have a problem with that,” she chuckled, “I guess I never thought you’d just come out to look at the stars after spending an entire day learning about how to navigate them.”

He gave a hollow laugh at that, “Yeah- uh, kind of weird, I guess.”

“No no! Not weird!” she floundered slightly, moving her arms in dismissal, “At least- not weird in a bad way. It’s just… unique! That’s the word I’d use, I think.”

“Unique,” he mumbled, turning back to the sky.

So they sat, sharing each others’ company under the dark sky.

“You should really get more sleep, though. I don’t know how you manage to sneak out without Iida hearing you, or even security.”

“Yea, well, I think this place has already proven it has the worst security ever.”

“Come on, Izuku, it’s not like they would have been able to keep Shoto here if they tried.”

“Yeah but still,” he put his face into his arms, “He’s out there somewhere, and the garrison isn’t even looking for him. Like he didn’t even matter.”

“Come on,” she laid a palm across his wrist, “he mattered to you, right?”

He watched the smile blooming across her face and turned his palm up to squeeze her hand briefly.

“The day before he left,” he said, “there was something he was talking about. People said he was crazy or something, but he kept talking about this theory. Well- I guess it was more like a dream.”

“You know a lot about dreams, huh?”

“Tch- come on, I’m being serious!” They shared a laugh, and he only continued when they stopped. “He said that he was gonna leave and figure it out. I didn’t think he was serious- or that he would wait until he graduated or something.”

“Yea,” she let go of his hand and crossed her arms over her knees, “his dad was so angry. I thought the search parties weren’t going to end.”

“But they did. And he’s still gone.”

“But you’re here.”

He looked at her again, noting how large her eyes looked in the limited light. A calm, yet warm brown against the cool of the sky.

“Izuku- I don’t know why Shoto left, but he told you every day that you had what it took to be a great pilot! If he was here with you, he’d be happy for you. When he comes back, he still will be, okay? You shouldn’t throw that away.”

“It’s not like I’m trying to,” he said, looking back at the expanse of sky, and then turning his gaze toward the ground. “I’ve wanted to be a pilot ever since I was little. When I applied for Fighter Pilot status and was sorted into Cargo, I just saw that as a road bump. I guess it was better when my dreams were just…  _ dreams,  _ you know?”

“I guess,” Ochako said. “It’s just, kind of sad to hear you say that.”

“Not as sad as he looks.”

They both flinched around, eyes landing on the suspected blonde.

“Here  _ too?” _ Ochako grumbled.

“Aw sorry, interrupting your date?” he said with a snicker. “Come on, get inside. Or at least, if you sneak out, do something cool.”

“Why don’t you mind your own business?” Ochako asked, “Better yet, why are you even up here?”

“Coming back from taking a piss-”

“Ew.”

“Shut up! Basically, I didn’t like the look of two nerds running around after lights out. Thought you guys would at least be shooting off bottle rockets or grappling down the side of the building, ya know, something interesting.”

A loud bang sounded across the entire campus, causing the very building to shake as a bright light shot off from just beyond a mountain range. The immediate jolt would have caused Izuku to fly over the side, had Ochako been too slow to catch him. As it was, he laid gratefully on the rooftop with her while they waited for what was surely the end of the world.

That end never came as the shaking calmed and Katsuki was already rising to his knees to stare blankly at where the light had originated.

“Is that ‘interesting enough for you?’” Ochako asked as she helped Izuku stand.

“What the fuck was that?” Katsuki asked as he slid forward.

“People could be hurt,” Izuku chimed, “Should we tell someone?”

“Let’s just go look for ourselves,” Katsuki said, smiling as he finally stood, the mountain range nearly reflecting in his eyes.

“Why? So you can mysteriously disappear when we get caught and expelled?”

“Come on, I don’t want you guys to get expelled,” Katsuki said, “Everyone needs a delivery crew.”

“Watch it.”

“Fine! Stay back here or rat me out, whatever! I’m gonna go check it out!”

As he walked across the roof to the fire escape, Ochako was left in the comfort that she and Izuku would remain safely behind. That is, until said Izuku started walking towards the edge as well.

“Izuku!”

“Aren’t you curious?” he asked, turning over his shoulder.

“With Katsuki?”

“If he does anything we can ban together and say he snuck out without us.”

The offer, tempting as it was, caused a strangled feeling to grow inside of Ochako as she followed Izuku over the edge.

After making their way to the edge of town in near perfect silence and trudging out to the desert, all three were almost too exhausted to scale the impressive slope to finally look out to what should have been a perfect stretch of sand. Instead, what they saw was a jarring crater. The scorch marks caused it to appear as though it were carved out by fire with debri scattered around every which way.

“Woah,” Izuku gawked from where he fell to his knees on top of the rige. “What do you think happened?”

“I think  _ they _ happened.”

Both Izuku and Katsuki looked in the direction of where she was pointing, both jolting at the sight of light peeking out of a tunnel embedded in the mountain’s side.

“There aren’t any manual excavations this close to town,” Izuku said. “Not to mention shielding their camp inside the mountain? While they’re digging around it?”

Ochako hummed in thought. “That’s an accident waiting to happen.”

“Maybe they’re looking for fuel? Or something,” Katsuki said, seemingly disinterested with the concept.

“There aren’t any mines around here,” Izuku continued, “or drilling sites. Assuming that there is fuel here would be pretty bold of them, unless they actually found something.”

“Welp, only one way to find out.”

With that, Katsuki slid down a small slope, coming to jog along the path down to the crater while Izuku fumbled after him, leaving Ochako to sigh and join them as they moved downward.

“Why are we still here?” she asked. “What if this is like, illegal and these guys just got a bunch of attention? The police could show up or even the military, and then they’ll find us and-”

“Shut it, Forehead,” Katsuki hissed, “We aren’t gonna get in trouble cause we aren’t gonna get caught. We’re just gonna look around, find out what’s up, and live to tell the tail, got it?”

“We should be careful,” Izuku said, “We don’t know the plans of the mine so any part could be unsteady near the source of the crater.”

“That’s assuming they’ve been digging anywhere but the crater,” Ochako pointed out. “This isn’t exactly your average mining operation.”

“Yea,” Katsuki said, eyes narrowed in thought, “This looks like something way more important than some shitty mining project, and I wanna know what that is.”

They continued walking before Ochako suddenly stumbled forward, falling onto Izuku’s shoulder as a sudden weight pulled her over.

“What is it? Kachan- stop!” Izuku said, “I think Ochako is hurt.”

“What in the,” he turned around, stopping despite his protests. “What’s wrong? Twist an ankle or something stupid.”

“No it's,” she thought for a moment about what exactly she was feeling. It was like something was pulling her under. “The gravity, it’s,” she paused, “it’s  _ increasing.” _

“It can’t be ‘increasing,’” Katsuki hissed. “Besides, we’re going  _ down. _ That’s like, the opposite of what’s supposed to happen, right?”

“It’s a little bit more complicated than that,” Izuku said, deciding not to add on,  _ And totally the opposite. _

“Whatever- that’s just what it feels like,” Ochako said. “I don’t think we should be here.”

“Sh!” Katsuki suddenly stepped out behind them, shoving them briefly as he pointed across the crater to several figures with flashlights moving out with metal briefcases and talking amongst themselves as they circled the pit. “Come on,” Kastuki said, motioning them towards another shallow cave. “If they move their flashlights over here, we’re finished.”

Nodding quickly, Izuku helped Ochako towards the shallow cave.

Every step, she felt like her head was pounding as some unheard noise invaded her mind.

“What  _ is  _ that?” she hissed, falling to the ground and clamping her hands over her ears.

“Ochako, are you okay?”

“Come on, don’t tell me she’s like, sick or something.”

“I don’t think so,” Izuku said, reaching out tentatively before laying his palm against her forehead, retracting immediately with a hiss. “You’re burning up!”

“I- It hurts,” she said. “It’s like something is pulling me and trying to push me away.”

“We should get her back to the dorms,” Izuku said. “Can you help me lift her?”

Katsuki grumbled but stooped down to help get under one of her arms.

“I’ll take her right to sick bay,” Izuku said.

“Don’t worry about that now, just lift your side, jeeze.”

“I feel like I’m gonna throw up.”

“You better not!”

“Sh!”

This time it was Izuku who hushed them as a light came across the opening of their cave, causing them to press backwards.

_ “I thought I heard voices,” _ someone said.

_ “There’s no one out here, Garrison took care of that for us.” _

“The Garrison?” Izuku whispered.

All of them pressed further against the back of the cave as the lights grew closer.

Katsuki was the first one to feel the ground give partially under his left foot. He tried to move away, hoping it was loose sand, and then the floor fell out beneath them, and they all tumbled down just as a figure began to step into the mouth of the cave.

They fell down and rolled further down a slope before landing haphazardly in some gravelly patch of sand.

Mouth tasting of dirt and metal, Katsuki was the first to sit up.

After quietly assessing his own limbs, he looked at the other two. Noticing they were still breathing, he didn’t waste time standing up and digging his hands into his pockets.

“Hey,” he lightly kicked Izuku, “get up. You’re not dead yet.”

“Ugh, it feels like it.”

_ “Hey- who’s down there?” _

Katsuki jumped back, grabbing Izuku’s arm and wrenching him up. He looked down to do the same to Ochako, maybe even carry her if he had to, only to see that she wasn’t in sight.

“Forehead?” he hissed into the darkness.  _ “Forehead!?” _

Listening in the darkness, Izuku heard the sound of feet shuffling and pulled Katsuki towards it.

“She’s over here- Ocha-!”

Katsuki slammed a hand over his mouth, grumbling, “Do you want to get caught?” as he pulled him down the slope after her. “They’re not gonna follow us down until they know it’s safe. We can still find a tunnel out of here after we get your catatonic girlfriend out of here.”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Izuku said, eyes drifting to the hole they’d fallen out of as they walked after Ochako in the darkness.

As soon as Katsuki was sure Izuku wasn’t going to do something stupid- like call out their names while their identities were still hidden- he shoved him slightly to the side and walked a little bit forward after the sound of Ochako’s footsteps.

“Hey,” he grumbled, “Forehead I-”

He walked after her, faintly seeing her shape just to the right of him. His intent was to step in front of her, but he managed to walk into a wall while she dodged into a tunnel he hadn’t been able to make out in the darkness.

“Son of a-” he grumbled.

“Are you okay, Kacha-”

“Don’t lose her!” he said, shoving him away and following Ochako into the tunnel. “Have you guys been up here before, or something?”

“No,” Izuku said. “Never.”

“Then how did she know about this tunnel?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it has to do with how she’s acting?”

“Oh, like some magical being is calling out to her or something? Like she’s possessed?”

“I don’t know!” 

As they walked, the cave had grown even more narrow than it had been at the beginning, leaving little room for them to actually step through normally as they shuffled towards it.

“We should grab her and turn back.”

Izuku was puzzled as he continue grappling with the wall.

“What if she knows where an exit is and is taking us there?”

“Yea, sure. I don’t trust her to lead a seeing eye dog like this- what makes you think we should follow her?”

“I don’t know,” Izuku said, “I trust her.”

They continued, each step forcing them deeper into the crag.

“We’re gonna get stuck like this,” Katsuki said. “If I die down here, you’re dead.”

Izuku let him have it for a moment before he said, “If you died then you wouldn’t be able to-”

“I know what I said, dumbass!”

And they left it at that.

A few more moments of shuffling and silence continued before Katsuki let out a mumble of, “Holy shit,” Deku unable to see past him.

“What, what is it?”

Katsuki didn’t respond.

“Kachan?”

He still didn’t respond, seemingly transfixed.

Izuku resisted calling out again, breathing speeding up as he felt a rock press into his back, keeping him from taking the deep breaths he needed to calm down. They were going to get stuck down here in some secret government mine and no one would save them because they either wouldn’t be able to find them or because it was three less mouths to keep quiet about whatever they were digging for- his anxiety hadn’t decided which was worse.

Either way, he was going to get stuck and Katsuki and Ochako were going to be dazed out and unable to help him as he wasted their oxygen hyperventilating while beating himself against the walls of the cave and there was nothing he would be able to do to stop them from dying.

His eyes screw shut in his fantasy and he stopped moving entirely, unable to continue in the dark cavern as his legs shook and tears formed in the corners of his eyes.

Suddenly, a hand reached out and wrapped around his wrist before wrenching him out of the hole and into the open air where he could finally breathe. He would have fallen over if it weren’t for that hand on his wrist and a hand patting his back.

“Hey, hey,” Katsuki said in a tone that was comparatively calm. “Come on, you’re alright. No broken bones, see? Tch, fucking idiot.”

That got his eyes to fly open, finally able to see the world around him.

There was light, but it wasn’t in any way natural, as it sprung from cracks in the ground with a growing intensity around a monolithic beast in the center of the room.

“What is that?” Izuku echoed.

“Dunno, but I don’t trust it,” Katsuki said.

While Katsuki stared down the near-glowing eyes of the figure, Izuku frantically searched for Ochako, nearly falling once more when he saw her reaching out to it. Hand raised, and still in a trance, she moved towards it.

“Ochako!” he yelled, running towards her.

Neither he nor Katsuki made it before the room suddenly lit up in a haze of fiery red. Patterns forming on the wall grew greater in intensity as she actually touched the net that appeared around the beast, phasing through it quickly as she suddenly came back to herself. The pedestal holding holding her and what was revealed to be a stunning, robotic lion was now surrounded in a halo of red light as she turned around wildly.

“Ah-!” she yelped, “What’s going on, where are we?”

“You tell us!” Katsuki yelled. “What the fuck is that thing!?”

“I don’t know- I just woke up! Wait- weren’t we in a cave? Or something?”

“We’re still in a cave with a giant fucking dog or whatever in the middle of nowhere!”

“Lion.”

Katsuki turned around slowly, his eyes tired and voice monotone as he asked, “What?”

“Ah- it looks like a lion, which is actually a cat, not a dog. But it’s funny that you thought that because it was the subject of some debate before the distinction between canine and feline as animal groupings was truly assessed! Did you know hyenas are cats too, technically? They come from the feline family but have evolved into fill the canine niche of their region due to the fact that it wasn’t filled previously and-”

“Do you hear that?” Ochako asked.

“Yea it’s just fucking Cargo rambling off again.”

“No no- that! That noise!” She turned around, looking at the lion again before reaching up to grasp at its leg. “I think its…. I think he’s talking to me.”

“He? Did you just call this hunk of metal a  _ he?” _

Katsuki shot up, for once regretting his words as the lion stooped down, eyes glowing and jaw extending into a platform.

“What’s it doing?” Izuku asked.

“He wants us to go inside,” Ochako said.

“Yea sure walk into the fucking lion’s mouth. That doesn’t sound absolutely fucking stupid!” Katsuki yelled.

“Come on, it’s not a real animal!” Ochako said.

“You just called it a ‘he’ a second ago! Fuck you!”

“Aw, are you scared?”

“This  _ thing  _ just brainwashed you and lead you into a death pit! We are surrounded by ancient ruins that are being secretly dug up and studied! I’m not scared- I’m fucking sensible do you understand me!?”

“Well I don’t see anyway out,” she said. “Maybe he’s a door. Or, maybe the actual animal or person is underneath him.”

“Oh yea, and this strange fucker is totally down to chat, hence the death pit!”

“Why do you keep calling it a death pit?” Izuku finally asked.

“Fuck- Are you looking at it!? I can hear the funeral march now- look at it!”

“I’m going inside. Izuku,” she held her hand out, “are you coming with me?”

He looked at her for a moment before he blinked a few times and pushed forward.

“What the  _ fuck?” _

“Kachan,” he said, “it’s either go with her or go back through that cave and get arrested.”

That seemed to make the decision to follow Ochako even easier as she trailed into the lion’s mouth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that Ochako has been pinned as the red paladin- I'm sure some of you have been wondering- who do you think the other paladins are?  
> Go ahead and comment with your guesses, I'm eager to see what you'll say!


End file.
